Kirsty Coventry – The Golden Girl whose backstroke earned her a cabinet Post

Kirsty Coventry 

By Lovemore Dube   10/12/2022

She has not risen to the level of head of state like George Weah of Liberia and Imran Ahmed Khan of Pakistan but she is certainly in the league of legendary sportspersons whose performance catapulted them to leadership posts.

Athletes like Kirsty Leigh Coventry come once in a lifetime as they are a rare breed.

In September 2018 Coventry made history when she became the first sports personality to be appointed a cabinet minister in Zimbabwe. The then 34-year old seven-time Olympic medallist  became the new  Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation and the first female sports minister.

The appointment was followed by a flurry of comments and congratulatory messages from other sports personalities. Motor racing star Axcil Jefferies said,”Finally we have an experienced and qualified athlete with the credentials for the position.”

“What great news for the whole country that Kirsty Coventry is the new Minister of Sports. A Legend, who represented Zimbabwe everywhere, flew the flag high and won so many medals for the Country.  She knows exactly what needs to be done to turn the whole thing around,” said international cricketer, Sikandar Raza.

Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) then acting director Joseph Muchechetere said, “This is indeed a pleasant surprise but a well-deserved appointment to one of our most distinguished sportspersons, one which augurs well for the agenda of the commission especially at this juncture.”

Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) secretary general Anna Mguni said Coventry’s appointment was a progressive move for sports development in Zimbabwe.

Coventry held world records and is considered the most decorated Olympian from Africa and joint most successful female swimmer.

Born in Harare in September 1983, Coventry now Mrs Seward after getting married to Tyrone her former manager in 2013, attended Convent High School in Harare.

She graduated from the school in 1999 and got a swimming scholarship in the United States of America’s Auburn University to pursue academics and swimming.

After dominating local club and national championships at all age-groups in her development, a lot was at stake at the next level as she had hit the ground running in the US making her mark in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) competitions.

She was crowned Zimbabwe Sportsperson of the Year in 2000.

In her first year in the US she made it to the semi-finals of the 2000 Olympics.

Coventry led the Tigers (Auburn University) to the (NCAA) Championships in 2003 and 2004.

A year later Coventry was the best individual scorer at the NCAA Championships and won three titles among the 200m and 400m individual medley and the 200m backstroke for two years.

Coventry was honoured with the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Championships.

She was able to win the 2005 (South-East Conference) Swimmer of the Year, and the 2004/05 SEC Female Athlete of the Year too.

So impressive was she that she grabbed the 2004/05 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving.

She burst into international stardom in 2004 when she won three Olympic medals at the 2004 Athens, Greece Olympics.

She won a gold medal in her favourite 200m backstroke and added, a silver and a bronze in two other events.

She was back in China four years later winning a gold medal and three silver prompting then President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe to call her a Golden Girl and present her with US$100 000.

Coventry retired in 2016 after her fifth Olympics, an impressive swimming record that earned her the nickname Nzuzu the Shona word for mermaid from the then Sports Minister Aeneas Soko Chigwedere.

Coventry is a role model and hugely inspirational figure for many women and young people across Africa. Her membership on the International Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency, International Surfing Federation and FINA are playing a key role in expanding the global Olympic movement and the development of sport

She runs a non-profit making organisation, the Kirsty Coventry Academy where she provides coaching and swimming lessons to children. She has also launched a sports training programme for the underprivileged called HEROES: Empowering children through sport.